Willie Mullins
William Peter Mullins (born 15 September 1956) is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. Career He commenced racehorse training in 1988 having previously worked as an assistant to his father Paddy Mullins and Jim Bolger. Willie is a former six times amateur champion jockey in Ireland, winning the 1983 Aintree Fox Hunters' Chase on Atha Cliath and the 1996 Cheltenham Bumper on Wither Or Which. He is the trainer of the 2005 Grand National winner Hedgehunter and the 2011 and 2013 Champion Hurdle winner Hurricane Fly and trained the horse, Vautour in the 2016 Ryanair Chase. He is also trainer of the six times David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle champion, Quevega. In the 2015 Cheltenham Festival Willie Mullins trained 8 winners which is a joint record at the Cheltenham Festival that Gordon Elliott equalled in 2018. He is the leading most winning trainer at the Cheltenham festival and was awarded in their prestigious hall of fame.In 2022 he trained a record 10 winners at the fest ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Horse Trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which may include contests and other riding purposes. The level of education and the yearly salary they can earn for this profession may differ depending on where the person is employed. History Domestication of the horse, Horse domestication by the Botai culture in Kazakhstan dates to about 3500 BC. Written records of horse training as a pursuit has been documented as early as 1350 BC, by Kikkuli, the Hurrian "master horse trainer" of the Hittite Empire. Another source of early recorded history of horse training as a discipline comes from the Ancient Greece, Greek writer Xenophon, in his treatise On Horsemanship. Writing circa 350 BC, Xenophon addressed Horse training, starting young horses, selecting older animals, and proper Ho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the county. As of the 2022 census the population of the county was just over 100,000. The county was based on the historic Gaelic kingdom of Ossory (''Osraighe''), which was coterminous with the Diocese of Ossory. Geography and subdivisions Kilkenny is the 16th-largest of Ireland's 32 counties by area, and the 21st largest in terms of population. It is the third-largest of Leinster's 12 counties in size, the seventh-largest in terms of population, and has a population density of 48 people per km2. Kilkenny borders five counties - Tipperary to the west, Waterford to the south, Carlow and Wexford to the east, and Laois to the north. Kilkenny city is the county's seat of local government and largest settlement, and is situated on the River Nore i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Champagne Fever
Champagne Fever (foaled 26 May 2007) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is noted for his front-running style and has won seven of his thirteen races. After beginning his racing career on the amateur point-to-point circuit he became the dominant National Hunt Flat performer in Britain and Ireland in 2012, winning the Champion Bumper and the Champion INH Flat Race. In the following season he was campaigned in novice hurdle races and won two more Grade I races, the Deloitte Novice Hurdle in Ireland and Supreme Novices' Hurdle in England. In his first season over steeplechase fences he won one minor race and finished second in the Arkle Challenge Trophy and in the following year he added win in the Clonmel Oil Chase and Red Mills Chase. Background Champagne Fever is a grey gelding bred in Ireland by John P. Cahill and John Walsh. He was sired by Stowaway, who won the Gordon Stakes and the Great Voltigeur Stakes in 1997. Stowaway has ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Supreme Novices' Hurdle
The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong (2 miles and 87 yards, or ), and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is for novice hurdlers, and it is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. It is the first event on the opening day of the Festival, and its start is traditionally greeted by the "Cheltenham Roar", a loud cheer generated by the crowds of onlookers. History The race was originally called the Gloucestershire Hurdle, and it used to be split into two or three separate divisions. The Irish trainer Vincent O'Brien recorded ten victories in the race during an eight-year spell in the 1950s. It became known as the Lloyds Bank Champion Novices' Hurdle in 1974, when Lloyds Bank began a brie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Penhill (horse)
Penhill (foaled 16 March 2011) is a British-bred racehorse best known for his achievements in National Hunt racing. Racing on the flat in England he showed good form in handicap races, winning five times from eighteen starts. When transferred to Ireland to race over obstacles he was one of the best Novice Hurdlers of the 2016/2017 season, winning six races including the Joe Mac Novice Hurdle, Guinness Novice Hurdle and Spa Novices' Hurdle. His subsequent career was disrupted by chronic injury problems but he recorded his biggest win in March 2018 when he won the Stayers' Hurdle. Background Penhill is a bay horse with a narrow white blaze and four white socks bred in England by Newsells Park Stud & Equity Bloodstock. As a yearling he was offered for sale at Tattersalls in October 2012 and was bought for 24,000 guineas by the trainer James Bethell. The colt entered the ownership of Clarendon Thoroughbred Racing and was taken into training by Bethell at Middleham Moor, Nort ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nichols Canyon (horse)
Nichols Canyon (11 February 2010 – 28 December 2017) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in National Hunt races. He showed good form on the flat before emerging as an outstanding performer in hurdle races. In his first two seasons of competition he raced on the flat and won three of his ten races including the Noel Murless Stakes and the Prix Denisy as well as finishing second in the St Simon Stakes. When transferred to Ireland to compete under National Hunt rules he made an immediate impact, winning five races in his novice season including four Grade 1 victories in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, Deloitte Novice Hurdle, Mersey Novices' Hurdle and Champion Novice Hurdle. In the following season he won the Morgiana Hurdle, becoming the first horse to defeat Faugheen and then recorded his sixth Grade I success in the December Festival Hurdle. In the following season he won a second Morgiana Hurdle and was then stepped up in distanc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stayers' Hurdle
The Stayers' Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain. It is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles (2 miles 7 furlongs and 213 yards, or 4,785 metres), with twelve hurdles to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. It is the leading long-distance hurdle event in the National Hunt calendar and the feature race on the third day of the Festival. History The inaugural race was run in 1912 at Prestbury Park over 3 miles with £100 (£200 in 1913) prize money to the winner and £10 to the runner-up. It was called "Stayers Selling Hurdle" and was a Weight for Age Selling type of event with the winning horse being sold for £50 after the race. The race was dropped from the festival programme twice during 1928–1929 and in 1939–1945 but in 1946 it replaced the Spa Hurdle which was pr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Queen Mother Champion Chase
The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Grade 1 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online betting company Betway, the race is now known as the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles (1 mile 7 furlongs and 199 yards, or 3,199 metres), and during its running there are thirteen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. It is the leading minimum-distance chase in the National Hunt calendar, and it is the feature race on the second day of the Festival. History The event was established in 1959, and it was originally called the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. It was given its present title in 1980 – the year of the Queen Mother's 80th birthday – in recognition of her support to jump ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Annie Power
Annie Power (foaled 20 March 2008) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A National Hunt horse specialising in hurdle racing, she won fifteen of her seventeen races including the Johnstown Novice Hurdle, Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Novice Hurdle, Ascot Hurdle, Doncaster Mares' Hurdle and Mares Champion Hurdle. In 2016, she became the first mare for twenty two years to win the Champion Hurdle. Background Annie Power is a chestnut mare with a narrow white blaze bred in Ireland by Eamon Cleary. She was sired by the German stallion Shirocco, whose wins included the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2005. As a breeding stallion he has sired the Goodwood Cup winner Brown Panther and several good National Hunt horses. Annie Power's dam Anno Luce was a high-class racemare, winning at Group Three level in Germany in 1996. The filly was sent into training with the leading Flat trainer Jim Bolger. Racing career 2012/2013 National Hunt season Annie Power began her racing career in National ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Faugheen
Faugheen ( foaled 2 May 2008) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2015 Champion Hurdle and back-to-back Christmas Hurdles in 2014 and 2015. His best performance on a racecourse came in the 2016 Irish Champion Hurdle for which he was rated the best two-mile hurdler of the 21st century. His career started over Point-to-point fences as a four-year-old and was sent racing under National Hunt rules in the 2013/2014 season where he emerged as a leading Novice hurdler, winning all of his races including the Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle, Cheltenham Novices Hurdle and Herald Champion Novice Hurdle acquiring the nickname "The Machine" in the process. Faugheen continued his undefeated run in the next season out of Novices company when he was kept over hurdles, winning his first three races in Britain with victories at Ascot and a month later in the Christmas Hurdle, followed with a win at the highest level in the Champion Hurdle, defeating a strong field that ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Al Boum Photo
Al Boum Photo is a French-bred, Irish-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2019 and 2020. Background Al Boum Photo is a dark bay gelding with a small white star, and was bred in France by Emmanuel Clayeux & Jacky Rauch. He initially raced in the colours of Clayeux, who also trained him. Racing career On his racecourse debut Al Boum Photo fell in a hurdle race at Moulins in France on 14 September 2015. In the following year he was sent to race in Ireland where he was trained by Willie Mullins and carried the colours of Mrs J Donnelly. In the 2016/17 National Hunt season he finished third on his first appearance for his new connections. He then won a minor race at Thurles Racecourse before winning the Grade 2 Festival Hurdle at Fairyhouse and finishing fifth in the Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle at Punchestown. In the first two races he was ridden by Ruby Walsh; in the second two races he was ridden by Paul Townend. Al Boum Photo began the 2017/18 season by ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 miles 2 furlongs and 70 yards, or 5,294 m), and during its running there are 22 fences to be jumped. The race takes place each year during the Cheltenham Festival in March. The steeplechase, which is open to horses aged five years and over, is the most prestigious of all National Hunt events and it is sometimes referred to as the ''Blue Riband'' of jump-racing. Its roll of honour features the names of such chasers as Arkle, Best Mate, Golden Miller, Kauto Star, Denman and Mill House. The Gold Cup is the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain, and in 2021 it offered a total prize fund of £468,750. History Early years The first horse race known as the Cheltenham Gold Cup took place in July 1819. It was a flat race, and it was c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |